The Blessing of the Shabbos Lights
וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלֹקִים אֶת יוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתוֹ (ב, ג)
And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it (Bereishis 2:3).
In the holy sefer Bnei Yissaschar (Ma’amarei HaShabbosos, Ma’amar 3, os 5), a wondrous secret is revealed concerning the blessing that rests upon the Shabbos lights — that within the nature of the Shabbos candles lies a unique blessing for every Jew, in greater or lesser measure.
These are his holy words:
“In the Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 11:2), Rabbi Eliezer says: [‘And God blessed the seventh day’] — He blessed it with light. And so it once happened to me that I lit the candle on Friday night, and when I came on Motza’ei Shabbos, I found it still burning and nothing was missing [from the candle]. But from where can we know that the blessing referred to here pertains to the light? There is no proof merely from the miracle that occurred to Rabbi Eliezer.
We are therefore compelled to say that this applies to every Jew: the lights of Shabbos are blessed with a greater radiance than all the days of the week — for one person in greater measure, for another in lesser measure — and those who understand this indeed know this to be true.” [See further where he elaborates.]
Thus the Bnei Yissaschar zt”l has revealed to us a wondrous blessing that rests upon the sacred Shabbos lights — “for every Jew,” not only for the great tanna Rabbi Eliezer, but for each and every Jew: “The lights of Shabbos are blessed with greater radiance than on the weekdays — for one person more, for another less.” And he adds, “those who understand, know this to be true.”
According to his holy manner, we must say that when Rabbi Eliezer related that “once” such a miracle occurred to him — that his candle burned through the entire Shabbos and remained whole — that event happened only once. Yet the essential blessing upon the Shabbos candle rested upon him every Shabbos, as it does upon every Jew; sometimes the blessing is abundant, other times less so. That one time, the blessing was so overflowing that the candle did not diminish at all.
In the holy sefer Siddur Shabbos (Part I, shoresh 2, anaf 1, end of os 7), he elaborates further on the wondrous segulah of the blessing of the Shabbos lights — that they guard and illuminate the homes of the Jewish people from within. He writes:
“Surely, through their kindling and their illumination, all the external forces of impurity, all evil and the sitra achra that dwell in our homes during the sadness and worry of the weekdays, are driven out and flee. For evil dwells in places of sadness — the very opposite of holiness, of which it is said (Divrei HaYamim I 16:27), עֹז וְחֶדְוָה בִּמְקֹמוֹ - Strength and joy are in His place. And through the light of the candles, the home is illuminated with the radiance of Shabbos joy and gladness, with peace and serenity in our dwellings. Strife and contention and the fire of discord are extinguished, for the holy fire of the mitzvah of lighting.”
